1862

March 1862: At Hampton Roads in the first naval battle between ironclad warships, the USS Monitor fought the CSS Virginia to a draw. The CSS Virginia was built from the hull of the captured USS Merrimac and had earlier sunk two wooden Union warships in Hampton Roads.

Sites to See:

See the USS Monitor's revolutionary turret and steam engine, and peer into conservation tanks filled with artifacts from her engine room at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News.

June 1862: The Battle of Seven Pines (Fair Oaks), included the Confederate army attacking federal forces. Last-minute reinforcements saved the Union from a serious defeat. Command of the Army of Northern Virginia fell to Robert E. Lee.

July 1862: The Seven Days' Battles, between June 26 and July 2 includes the sites of Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Savage's Station, Frayser's Farm and Malvern Hill. On July 2, the Confederates withdrew to Richmond, ending the Peninsula Campaign.

August 1862: The Second Battle of Bull Run in Manassas resulted in a Southern victory.

1863

May 1863: The Battle of Chancellorsville resulted in more casualties than any other engagement ever fought on Virginia soil. It also has been called General Lee's greatest victory.

June 1863: The Gettysburg Campaign. Confederate General Lee decided to take the war to the enemy. On June 13, he defeated Union forces at Winchester.

1864

May 1864: The Overland Campaign. Beginning with the Battle of the Wilderness, Lee and Grant locked horns in a remorseless and bloody struggle that included the battles of Spotsylvania Court House and North Anna, ending with the Battle of Cold Harbor. Lee inflicted more than 60,000 Union casualties – more men than he had in his own army – but Grant could replace his losses and Lee could not.

May 1864: The Battle of Spotsylvania was a two week standoff highlighted by a one day bitter hand-to-hand fight. The battle was basically a draw, with neither side taking the upper hand.

June 1864: The Battle of Cold Harbor. The Union lost 7,000 men in near-suicidal attacks ordered by Grant. Lee was unable to prevent Grant from crossing the James River and investing the city of Petersburg in a siege.

June 1864: The Battle of Staunton River Bridge. At this historic site, a ragtag group of Confederate old men and young boys beat the odds and held off an assault by 5,000 Union cavalry soldiers on a bridge of strategic importance to General Lee’s army, then under siege in Petersburg.

1865

January 1865: The Fall of the Confederacy

April 1865: The Battle of High Bridge. Confederates were able to burn much of High Bridge, attempting to prevent Union forces from crossing the bridge over the Appomattox River. The rebels were unable to bridge another lower bridge, however, enabling federal forces to pursue Gen. Lee's army.

April 1865: The Battle of Little Sailor's Creek. Called "the Black Thursday of the Confederacy," at Sailor's Creek Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia lost 7,700 men, including eight generals.